SAO A False Hope
by Alta6
Summary: Taoreta, a victim in a drunk driving incidence, has lost the ability to walk. She hears about NerveGear and thinks that this could be her chance to walk once more. However, will her miracle cure turn into a nightmare? *This is my first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fanfic ever written! As such, any reviews comments on this are extremely appreciated! Even if they are just saying how awful this is! But hopefully I'll get some supportive ones too. Anyway see you at the bottom.**

The day had arrived.

Taoreta's eyes flew open as the alarm on her clock went off. She flipped over onto her side, slamming the snooze button before the alarm had another chance to buzz. She glanced at the clock through the edges of the blond hair that fell over her eyes.

_7 A.M. Just 6 hours till she might finally be able to…no. She couldn't let her hopes get to high. Not after all she had been through._

She reached over and grabbed the jeans and shirt she had laid out on the bedside dresser the night before. She slipped out of her pajamas and pulled on the fresh clothes with practiced ease. She then turned over once more, reaching out for her crutches, before realizing they weren't there.

"Saro, you are so going to regret this…"

After muttering various other curses about her brother under her breath, she looked about her room and saw them lying on the floor next to her door. She rolled out of bed, and started crawling on her hands on knees toward the crutches. The braces on her lower legs rattled slightly as they dragged along the ground.

After a minute of struggling, she finally managed to stand up, leaning heavily on the door. Her eyes had been watering the whole time, as she remembered that incident. She remembered lying in that hospital bed three years ago when the doctors told her that her legs her lower legs had been completely crushed by the car that had flown off the road the previous night. At that time, no one knew the full extent of the damage caused to her legs, and she just wanted to throttle the drunk that had knocked her out of the kendo junior national championship. However, after three weeks in casts, the casts were removed and that was when she realized the truth. Taoreta began physical therapy that day, and after a full week of intense sessions, she was still unable to stand without the support of crutches and braces. She progressed no further, even after another month of sessions. She could hobble about with the crutches, but she could no longer walk unassisted, and moving about in a wheelchair was far easier and more convenient. The doctors told her that the muscles in her legs had been damaged beyond repair, and that she would never be able to walk again.

_Until today…I could walk again today._

After wiping the tears from the edges of her eyes, Taoreta opened the door and went down the hallway to the kitchen. Upon arrival, she saw a bowl of cereal and an orange already peeled and sliced, as well as a note from her mother. "Your father and I will both be working late tonight. We expect you to feed yourselves tonight. And Taoreta, good luck today. Love, Mom".

She set the note down, and then turned to see another similar bowl of cereal next to her own. Smiling wickedly, she proceeded to pour a large amount of salt into her brother's bowl before hearing him come down the stairs. She quickly began eating to try and cover her smile.

Her brother meanwhile walked into the kitchen with his own amused smile plastered to his face.

"G'mornin sis!"

It was obvious by his attire that Saro had just woken up, with his dark brown hair sticking up at odd angles and his pajamas hanging off his skinny frame. He slid into his chair and poured a large amount of milk into his cereal. He then casually popped one of the orange slices into his mouth, before turning excitedly toward his sister.

"You ready for Sword Art Online?"

This whole thing had been her brother's idea. Saro had felt awful when he found out about his sister's predicament, and did everything he could to help her get along as best as she could. He helped her with various tasks around the house, as well as helping her get to school every morning. He also helped her find new activities to participate in. He even went so far as to set up and organize the new wheelchair basketball team just so that his athletic sister could continue playing sports.

Then when he heard about Sword Art Online, the new video game featuring the NerveGear system, he immediately started doing research. He figured that since the system detected signals from the brain in order to move the character in game, Taoreta would be able to move and walk as she had once been able to.

He really was a good little brother, when he wasn't playing tricks on his sister.

"Yeah, I really hope this works." Taoreta responded as Saro ate a large spoonful of his cereal.

She couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her as Saro gagged on his cereal.

After a brief look of rage passed over his face as he glanced at his sister, he too began chuckling, before saying, "Yeah okay, I deserved that."

The alarm on Taoreta's watch went off after her 10th straight basket.

_12:30, time to get ready._

She wheeled her chair back into the house, and Saro came over to her.

"Alright, time to open these bad boys up."

He tore open the boxes containing the two NerveGears, and began setting them up while Taoreta went to take a shower. As Saro opened the boxes, he could not help but smile as he saw the two helmetesque devices.

_These are my sister's hope._

After setting them up, he went to his sister's room and found her sitting on her bed. She had changed into sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, with her wet hair sticking to the collar of the shirt. He handed her the helmet and the two repeated their plan. The first thing Taoreta would do when she arrived in the world of Sword Art Online would be to send a friend request to her brother and wait for him to find her. Then, she would try to move.

Saro left to go to his room, and Taoreta laid back and slid the NerveGear over her head.

This was it. She checked her watch and stared at it until the time flipped from 12:59 to 1:00.

She flipped on the NerveGear and hesitantly spoke the words that would allow her to once again walk as she once had.

"Link start!"

**So what did you think? I kinda understand if you say I'm knocking off the Absolute Sword a little bit, but that isn't the intention. I hope to have another chapter up next Sunday, but with school ending soon I can make no promises. Anyway please review/comment and any feedback at all is appreciated. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: First of all, WOW! I did not expect to get the amount of support I got (I wasn't really expecting much but still). Thank you so much if you reviewed, followed or favorited! Thanks so much! Second of all, I am aware I am an awful person. I was planning to have this out last weekend, but spending the past week with my cousins on the other side of the country has resulted in me being fairly unproductive. I apologize for the late update, and plan on getting the next chapter out by Wednesday at the latest this week in order to make up for it. Anyway, here is the chapter.**

Yuka spawned in. She cared nothing for the strange world that had suddenly appeared around her, but rather pulled the sword from her sheath, something that had once come naturally - and jabbed it point first into the ground, leaning her weight against it.

_Something is off…_

Yuka could not tell what was wrong, but immediately tears came to her eyes as an odd feeling passed through her legs.

_Please let it work…_

Taoreta, now seen as Yuka to all the smiling players appearing around her, carefully maneuvered so that she was able to sit down on a nearby bench. Then, after calming her breathing and blinking the tears from her eyes, Yuka swiped her right hand down the middle of her field of vision in order to open her menu. After several confusing minutes of trying figure out the menu (during which she almost deleted her default sword and armor) she finally managed to send a friend request to her brother Saro, who had chosen the username Teito for his character. Within 15 seconds, a notification appeared in the upper right corner of her vision, saying "Teito has accepted your friend request." She then navigated to her map and found the location of her brother. He was apparently about 10 yards away, standing next to fountain.

Yuka looked toward where her brother was supposed to be and her jaw dropped.

In the same spot where her brother's icon was on her map, a towering, 6'10" man with a giant sword slung all the way down his back stood. He had ice white hair that contrasted wonderfully with his blue eyes. His face had a very handsome build, and his toned muscles made him look quite attractive. Then, after a quick double-take at the stunning man, her face grew red and she yelled angrily at the man with the name Teito above his head, "SARO, YOU IDIOT!" At this point in time the image of the man in front of her was ruined as his face broke into a familiar boyish smirk. Teito called back, "What was that Sis? I can't hear you down there?"

He walked over to the bench where Yuka sat, cupping his ear and bending down in order to "hear her better." As he bent down, Yuka backhanded him in the face, causing Teito to lose his balance and fall flat on his back, earning him some laughs from several other nearby players.

After slowly climbing back to his feet, Teito looked back down at his sister, with the same smile on his face. "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself." However, his face once again took on a serious look. "Are you ready to give it a shot?" he asked cautiously.

For a moment, Yuka hesitated. She wanted to say no, didn't want to get her hopes up, only to have them all come crashing down on her. And most of all, she didn't want to walk here. She feared that if she could walk here, in this virtual, or rather fake world, she wouldn't be able to make herself go back to the real one. She didn't want to strut through the streets of this fake world with strangers she didn't really know, only to have leave and be handicapped around her friends in the real world.

Just as she was about to tell Teito no, something happened. Another female player approached, looking to be about Yuka's age of 16. The girl looked down on Yuka with a confused look on her face. "Why do you seem so sad?" the girl asked tentatively. "This place is so cool. And you are one of the lucky 100,000 who gets to play it. Why do you look so down?"

At these words, Yuka looked up from her place on the bench and took in the view that surrounded her. She saw the breath-taking water fountain that her brother had been observing, and the magnificent cityscape that extended as far as the eye could see. Though these things lacked any form of modern appeal, they both were beautifully made of stone, and the whole place had a medieval look to it that she couldn't help but love.

And yet despite the wonderful scenery around her, Yuka was caught up in the eyes of the girl in front of her the most. They were large and innocent, pure in every way. No way were those the eyes of some random 16 year old. They looked like they belonged to someone younger, perhaps the age of Saro in real life, the age of 12. And the way the girl talked, so sweetly and innocently, seemed to suggest the same thing. And that is when it hit her: that no matter how fake the people around her appeared to be, they were real. Just like this girl couldn't hide the fact that she was still a sweet kid, and that Teito's older looking face broke every time he smiled, she realized that most people would be the same way. They would not be able to hide their true selves here.

The girl in front of her stuck her hand out for Yuka to take. "My name is Silica. It is nice to meet you," she said with a sincere smile on her face. Yuka raised her hand to the corner of her eye in order to wipe a tear away. She then put out her own hand and said "My name is Yuka. It is a pleasure." Silica took Yuka's hand and pulled her to her feet. Yuka stood. Silica cheerfully pulled on her arm, saying "C'mon, apparently there are some shops up ahead that sell some really cute armor."

And Yuka walked. At first she held tightly to Silica's hand, but as they walked she gradually loosened her grip, and finally took off running, tears streaming down the side of her face. Silica paused, looking slightly confused for a second, before her face lit up and she too started running, calling toward her new friend, "Hey wait for me!"

Teito tailed the two, grumbling to himself, "Why didn't I get to say hi to the pretty girl?"

**So what do you think? Decided I would try to make this chapter somewhat emotional before I try my hand at some action that will happen next chapter. Keep in mind this is my first fanfic, so any and all reviews are greatly appreciated! Special thanks to my friend for proof reading this and tmstriff for the advice! See you soon **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Again I am a super awful person. My schedule has been way out of whack this week, and this chapter is way too late. From now on I'm just going to stick to weekly on Sunday because that is the time that works best for me. However, if I do end up having time in the middle of the week I will post another chapter when it is ready. But expect a new one at least every chapter. In order to make up for my awfulness, this chapter is longer than the others, though I hope to try and make this the normal chapter length. Also don't know if I have said this yet, but I don't own Sword Art Online, although I think that would be obvious.**

**Anyway, sorry for the wait but here is the chapter. **

After an hour of shopping with her newfound friend, Silica, Yuka finally left the armor shop alongside Silica, with a disgruntled Teito tailing behind them. The girls were each admiring each other's new armor. Silica had chosen a red colored armor, while Yuka had chosen orange. They had even tried to convince Teito to get a new set, but he refused, saying the defensive stats of his default armor weren't all that different from any of the armors the shop had. However, Yuka saw right through that lie, knowing her brother well enough to know he wouldn't change armors until he found a cooler looking blue set.

Yuka looked at her surroundings once again, losing herself in the sights around her. The medieval styled buildings made her feel out of place, but then again with her armor and sword, she must've fit the part pretty well. She spotted an NPC run bakery nearby and looked at her clock. It was about three o'clock in the real world, so she figured it couldn't hurt to have a quick snack. She quickly mentioned it to Silica and Teito.

Silica was more than happy to grab a snack, but Teito let out a huge groan. "C'mon ladies, aren't we ever going to actually play this game!? SAO stands for _Sword_ Art Online, not _Shopping_ Art Online. Let's go take out some monsters! And Yuka, there is food waiting back at our house in the real world. No reason to spoil your appetite now." Yuka sighed at her brother's words, but couldn't help get excited as well. She'd been cut off from her greatest passion, kendo, since the accident, and now would be the moment to feel the experience again. To feel the weight of a weapon in her hand, and have the ability to manipulate it at ease. She missed it as much as walking.

As she agreed and began to turn toward the town's exit, Silica stopped briefly. Yuka looked back at her and was surprised to see a 12-year-old's embarrassed look, eyes facing the ground, cheeks flushed red. "Umm…do you two…live together?" After an awkward pause, Teito burst out into a thundering laugh while Yuka, flustered, said "No god no…er well yes but it isn't what you think…." She let out an exasperated sigh, and then turned once more toward the town exit, slapping him across the face in the process.

"Let's just go."

The group, which had now officially formed a party, exited the starting city and began their search for a monster to fight.

"So…um… do either of you know what you are doing?" Silica asked quietly. "I'm not really sure what to do here…"

Teito smug grin slowly fell down into a disappointed frown. "Same here. I've never been a fight or anything like that before, but I think I kinda know what to do."

"Stand aside ladies, and leave this one to the pros." Yuka walked up, holding her sword at her side, feeling its weight its power.

_I still remember this. I can do this._ Yuka thought to herself. _Or at least I better do it or Teito won't ever let me live this down._

After another few minutes of wandering, Yuka finally found what she was looking for. A brown pig was wandering, its beady red eyes at first staring out into the distant horizon, but snapping into focus on Yuka as she entered the creature's view. It squealed angrily as it rushed her, its tusks flashing menacingly in the afternoon light.

_Amateur._

The pig appeared threatening at first glance, but Yuka looked over it with a veteran's eyes. The pig was rushing at her full force, with no chance what so ever to try and turn itself. As easy to avoid as a clumsy lunge from a rookie swordsman. As such, there was never a chance it would hit her. And, just as landing a powerful overhead blow to the opponents sword when they missed would likely leave them disarmed and defenseless, the same blow should stagger the pig, leaving it helpless before her.

Yuka registered this thought in about half a second, and implemented it immediately. However, instead of using her full strength, she savored the strike. She felt more like an artist guiding a paintbrush rather than a swordswoman striking a pig. The sword followed her hand, leaving an afterimage in the air as she pulled it down, slashing the pig above the shoulder. She allowed the blade to flow through the shoulder, and as it passed through crouched down slightly and brought the blade to her side in preparation of delivering a horizontal slash in order to finish off the heavily wounded boar.

As she entered the stance to deal the blow, something happened. The blade, which had before followed her hand in a beautiful dance-like way, now glowed brightly and stopped itself. Then, without any assistance from Yuka it swung at an absurd speed, leaving the green glow in its path straight through the center of the pig. The glow hung there for a second, before disappearing as the boar broke into an innumerable amount of blue, glass-like shards.

Both Teito and Silica stood back in amazement. Not only were they both amazed at the skill which Yuka exhibited, but they were both caught up in the beauty of the exploding pig. "Amazing," Silica said with her mouth gaping.

"What do you know Yuka. You still got it." However, Teito words went unheeded by his sister.

Yuka stood up, enraged at what she had just witnessed. "What the hell was that!?" she yelled furiously. Her moment of triumph had been ruined. The weight of her sword, which she had previously guided and led on its path of destruction had turned against her, instead telling her what to do and pulling her along. She would not stand for this disgrace to her beloved art.

"Yuka, what's wrong? Aren't you happy you can swing your sword again?" Teito asked, confused by his sister's rage.

"That wasn't swinging my sword. That was watching a sword that happened to be in my hand while it swung. What was that anyway?"

Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere from behind them. "It is called a Sword Skill miss."

The trio turned to face the man who had appeared. He was a younger man, perhaps the age of 20, with a red and yellow bandanna around his head that went well with his red armor. Behind him stood another boy who appeared to be the same age, with long black hair that stretched down in front of his face. He wore blue and brown armor and has his sword lying across his back instead of at his side.

He stepped toward the group with a giant smile plastered on his face. "And might I add, you used it quite beautifully there for not knowing what it was."

"Who are you?" Teito asked as the man came to a stop a few steps away from Yuka.

"My name's Klein. The anti-social one behind me is Kirito. We were just hunting some monsters when we saw this fight going on down here. Though I don't know if you can really call it that. It was kinda one sided against that poor boar there. And may I have the honor of your names?"

The three introduced themselves, although Klein mainly focused on Silica and Yuka rather than Teito. He offered to kiss both of their hands in greeting, and both quickly declined.

"So you seem to know about these 'Sword Skill' things Klein. Anyway you know to turn them off?" Yuka asked, hoping to try and get as much information from this man as possible.

"Ermm… I wouldn't know that much about. I'm still kinda getting used to how this game works. Ask Kirito, he is the one who would know."

Yuka turned to face the black-haired swordsman behind Klein, who had approached Teito and the others had introduced themselves.

"Sword skills activate when you initially take up a set position. As long as you set up a specific, anyone can perform the Sword skill as long as they have the proper level. So for instance, when you got into that crouched position in order to finish off the boar earlier, you activated the sword skill with your initial positioning."

"So is there anyway to prevent these Sword skills from activating?"

"I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to use them," Kirito responded, "but if you can push the sword out of the position before the sword skill can completely start-up, the skill should fail to activate and you would launch an unaided attack."

"Really, that is so cool!" Silica exclaimed after hearing Kirito's explanation. "How do you know so much about the game anyway?"

"I was in the beta." Kirito replied simply.

"Really, that's awesome!" Teito was practically bouncing with excitement at hearing those words. "So you know like everything about the game right? Can you teach us?"

"I'd rather not. As long as you know how Sword skills work you can pretty much figure out the rest of the features yourself. And you'd better get going before other people start hunting monsters too. See ya later."

With that Kirito turned and started walking away. "Hey Kirito, wait up!" Klein started jogging in order to catch up to Kirito. When he finally caught up to him Klein turned back around and shouted "Happy hunting!" as we waved.

The group waved back at Klein as the bandanna wearing swordsman walked away.

"Well we better take his advice. After all, we do need to practice these Sword skills." Teito said, leading the group in the opposite direction.

"You and Silica can take point. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to stop these Sword skills." Yuka told her fellow party members.

While Teito and Silica started slaying boars using the intense power of their Sword skills, Yuka stayed away from the frontlines and worked on stopping her sword skills. After a few failed attempts, she finally began to understand what Kirito was saying. Whenever she entered a basic stance, her sword would start to glow and she would lose control of it. She learned to push through this pause, and after two hours of practice, finally had it down so that she could successfully stop all of the Sword skills she currently had access to. Each time she successfully stopped her Sword skills, the glow that had once been on her sword would hover there for a brief moment in time, creating an odd visual effect. During that time, Teito and Silica had both learned the basics of combat and had learned how to use their sword skills, although Teito was significantly more skilled at them than Silica was.

"Hey Teito, don't you think it is about time we logged out and had dinner?" Yuka called out to her brother.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's head back to town and then log out from there."

Teito and Silica talked as they walked back to town, and Yuka simply thought about what had happened today. She could once again walk and swing her sword, two parts of her she thought she had lost forever. She was smiling as she said farewell to Silica back in town, having friended her as they got ready to log out. As the siblings began rummaging through their menus looking for the logout button, they heard a sudden loud sound over the hustle and bustle of the starting city; one that would change their lives forever.

_Bong. Bong. Bong._

**A/N So what do you think of it? I appreciate all the support I have received so far and hope to continue writing for a while still as it is something I greatly enjoy. Once again sorry for the late update and thanks for the support! See ya on Sunday! Oh yeah, and SAO Season 2 in three days WOOT! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N So, I'm a bit late. Sorry about that. Been stuck between busy and lazy. Needless to say there won't really be a schedule for my next update, but I don't plan on it taking it nearly as long as the last one. Anyway, I'm once again sorry and here is what you have been waiting for for the past ever. See you at the bottom.**

_Bong. Bong. Bong._

Yuka turned to face the source of the loud noise which seemed to assault all of her senses at once. At first she couldn't isolate it, and almost began to panic. Then she realized that the sound was actually surrounding her. She directed her gaze skyward and looked at the bell towers. There were a few scattered around the starting town, and the beauty of the structures, which seemed just short of reaching the ceiling of the 1st floor, was enhanced by the setting sun. However the clamor which reached her ears did not match the beauty she saw.

The bells tolled in a crazed manner, constantly vibrating and crashing. There seemed to be no distinct pattern. However, that in of itself meant something. _Emergency bells…_ Yuka thought to herself. However, she could not think of any particular reason they would be going off. She saw no smoke or evidence of burning buildings, and wondered if anything like that could even happen in a video game anyway.

She looked around and tried to gauge the reactions of the other players around her. Several of them seemed to be panicking or on the verge of it. She looked down the road and saw Silica, who belonged to this group of people. Several timid girls clung to the arms of the guys around them. However, most of the players seemed to belong to the group Yuka was in; they were simply confused.

_So no one knows what is happening then…_

Teito turned to face Yuka, and she could see the barely contained panic in his eyes. He was better off than some of the other younger players, but he was still far from calm. He opened his mouth to begin to say something, but the sound died in his throat a moment later.

His body began to glow an odd blue-white light. Or rather the light seemed to be covering him. Yuka stepped back in surprise and looked around, eyes flashing back and forth, trying to figure out everything at once. It wasn't just Teito that seemed to be having this experience. Players everywhere were having the exact same thing happen. Down the straight Yuka saw Silica, with a look of utter terror on her face. That face was the last thing Yuka saw as she was suddenly blinded by the light which had apparently been glowing all around her as well. She felt no heat from the light, and it didn't seem to impede her movement as she reached her hand over to Silica, as if she could somehow reach out and help the poor girl who was approximately 10 meters out of reach.

And yet just as suddenly as it had appeared, so too did it disappear. Yuka now stood in a large courtyard, and had it not been for the worry and panic that was welling up inside her she would have been very self-conscious about her current position: bent over forward with her hand reached out as far as possible in the middle of a giant crowd. After a brief moment in this pose, she quickly stood up straight and, with a blush on her face, took a better look around.

An innumerable number of people stood around her. Nearby Teito stood, a stunned look still on his face. Still out of reach, Silica stood around the same distance away as before, but there were so many people between her and Yuka that they wouldn't be able to meet up unless Yuka started jumping on people's heads. The crowd itself was chaotic and loud with everyone trying to figure out what was happening. There also appeared to be some kind of invisible wall, as several people near the edge of the courtyard seemed as if they were being crushed against some kind of barrier, and were not too kindly telling the other players to get out of way.

Teito once again caught her attention. Converting her focus back to her brother, Yuka listened intently to what he had to say.

"Several of the other players around here think this might be some kind of event. You know, like some kind of official welcome to the game." Yuka nodded silently and agreed. Of course, this was a video game. Nothing bad could happen here. Yuka berated herself for getting so worried and began to spread the word to the other players around her in order to try and quell the tides of panic that swirled around her.

Just as she began to do this, the whole crowd went silent. And so did she.

_No…that isn't possible. This has got to be beyond some kind of weird game event._

From the sky, what appeared to be a large drop of blood was oozing through the ceiling of the floor. It appeared to be electrified, with electric sparks flying off of it randomly. As she watched, it collected at first into a single blob, as if there was some invisible bowl trying to catch the falling blood. Then the blood began rising from the blob and formed a large and intricate red cloak. The hood was up, shrouding the face of the person. No, that wasn't it. There was no person in that cloak. Where hands should have come out of the sleeves, there was instead a pair of white gloves, each large enough to hold a person easily.

Some of the other players still were convinced this was just a welcoming event, but to Yuka there seemed to be a menacing hint in the air, as the moment this cloaked being had appeared, the entire sky had darkened, perhaps to resemble a sunset. However, the sunset was a much darker red than normal, and it stained the entire courtyard red. _There should be far more appealing ways to welcome players to the game than this._

Suddenly a large voice emanated from the direction of the hood of the cloak.

"Attention players. Welcome to my world."

Several of the players around Yuka and Teito relaxed at this. They could hear sighs of relief coming from them, along with one of them murmuring, "It's just the Game Master."

_I guess that is why he said this was his world…_ Yuka thought to herself. She didn't really know the specifics about what a Game Master did, but she knew that basically they did have ultimate control of all the things that happened within an MMO such as the one they were currently playing.

The voice continued, "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."

At those words, Yuka's thoughts were confirmed. This man, Kayaba Akihiko had said that so evenly and crisply, but yet the words seemed sinister to her. _The sole person… Surely one man couldn't keep track of all of this by himself. Something else is going on… _

"I'm sure you've already noticed, that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat-this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shutdown or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

At this point, the players around her had stopped breathing their sighs of relief. In fact, they had stopped breathing entirely, completely shocked by the words they had just heard. And Yuka didn't question the words this man had just said. She didn't believe this man was lying.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."

Finally, one of the players nearby snapped. "That is bullshit! There is no way something like that could happen!"

The voice continued on, indifferent to the voices around it.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world, are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger, of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal."

As he said this, several small screens appeared around the figure's head and began to float around. The headlines had pictures of many different people, and all were talking about a massive series of NerveGear killings. She wanted to hurl. He had killed two hundered and thirteen people just so they couldn't leave his game. She hunched over as her gag reflex was triggered, but she couldn't throw up. Despite the discomfort that came, she did not taste the bile she had expected to fill her mouth. She couldn't throw up. Of course, that wasn't programmed into the game. Neither was the taste of vomit she felt like she should be throwing up right now.

"I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously the NerveGear will destroy your brain. There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

Now Yuka snapped up. This wasn't just an informative way of letting people know they were trapped. This was his way of letting people know that they could escape, like slipping a prisoner the key to his cell door. But in this case, the key was wired to an electrical generator, and that with one wrong move the guard could flip the switch and send 100,000 volts through the key and into the prisoner's body. He was telling them they could escape, and that they could die.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourself."

_A present? What could be next? _That being said, Yuka still opened up her inventory and found what it was. A mirror appeared in her hand when she opened it.

In it she saw what everyone else saw. Her avatar. Some part of her now regretted not spending more time on it when she started out the game. She had chosen a rather generic avatar, one slightly shorter than her actual height, with long brown hair and green eyes. The character had freckles around her very small nose. Yuka figured that Kayaba was just throwing salt in the wound. Now she would be stuck like this until, well she decided not to think about how long they could be here in this game.

Then suddenly, the same light from before began covering the character's face. Yuka looked around and saw the same thing happening all around her. _What is it for this time?_ She didn't panic this time as her vision was flooded by the light, and yet when she saw the mirror again, she was only able to get one quick glance in until it fell from hand and shattered on the ground, where it promptly disappeared into a myriad of crystal shards.

It was her face. Her real face. She had seen it. The same exact nose that she thought was too big but all her friends told her made her look cute. The same blond hair that extended down her forehead and slightly in front of her blue eyes. It was all exactly the same. As the mirror hit the ground, she looked down at the rest of her body and found that she now was the same height and had the same body proportions as she did in the real world.

_How did he know?! He shouldn't know what I look like! This is impossible! He can't….the scars…_

In a hope to find some part of her that wasn't real, to find some part on her that showed that this wasn't her actual self, she looked at her legs, which were exposed by the skirt that she had bought earlier with Silica. They weren't there. Those large white scars that had been caused by her broken bones tearing through her muscles and skin in that incident.

_So this is just a model of what we look like made by the NerveGear… but why would he do this if we are just his prisoners? It makes no sense._

Just as she thought that, Kayaba spoke once more. "Right now, you're probably wondering, "why". Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the Nerve Gear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason. To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online Launch. Good luck players."

As he said those last words, the cloak began to melt away and fade out of existence. There was a large silence that followed.

And then the first scream pierced the air. The game had now truly begun.

**A/N So yeah...for all of you that followed this story and have reviewed, I thank you for sticking around. Once again I'm so sorry for the late update. I'll get the next one up far sooner this time around. Please review and um yeah... I'll see you soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello once again readers. I have finally finished writing and editing another chapter of this and I'm sure many of you have been waiting for this for a long time(or more than likely you forgot about this). Once again sorry for the long break between chapters but school is school and I am in it so yeah...Anyway here is the chapter. Do enjoy it.**

"N-n-noooooo!"

The scream that she heard was loud enough to wake the crowd from there subdued state. The voice was filled with fear and denial, feelings that the crowd soon echoed. Several called out to Kayaba, demanding an explanation for what they had just heard. There was a handful of players who broke out of the circle, heading for some unknown destination.

However, the vast majority of players simply panicked. Some let out ear-piercing wails and screams while others started cursing out everything and everyone. Then there were the ones that scared Yuka the most: the silent ones.

These players did nothing. They simply didn't respond. Their mouths hung open and they looked outward with blank looks on their faces. These people simply couldn't accept or deny what they had just heard, and had simply gone into shock. Several players in this condition had already dropped to their knees, some sitting quietly, as if waiting for something else to happen, while others had tears running down their faces, yet still lacked any ability to speak.

Yuka didn't know what to do. None of it seemed possible to her, yet there was no evidence saying that Kayaba had been wrong. _Why is this happening? This isn't supposed to be how this game works. I just wanted to walk again, to be able to support myself. Why the hell is this happening!?_

Yuka wanted to scream. Tears had begun running down the side of her face. She was just about to collapse to the ground when she heard words behind her that shocked her out of her current state.

"This is it. It's all over. My life is pretty much over."

Those words, Yuka remembered saying those exact same words when she found out her legs wouldn't be recovering, that she'd be stuck in a wheelchair or on crutches for the rest of her life. At that time, she had sank into a state depression. The doctors had released her from the hospital upon realizing that no amount of physical therapy would restore her leg muscles. For the next month, Yuka barely left her room. Her mother had brought her meals, and she would return them only half-eaten. She barely spoke a word to anyone who visited, including some of her closest friends.

She would've probably continued in that mindset, waiting for the end, had it not been for her brother's intervention. He suddenly walked into her room one day and had simply said, "You aren't my sister. She is better than this." With those words he proceeded to push his now significantly underweight sister out of the bed and onto the floor. He then lifted her up (with some difficulty) and placed her into her wheelchair.

Yuka could remember how surprised she had felt that day. Her brother then wheeled her outside and handed her a basketball. "You can go back inside and continue moping after you score a basket." That is when Yuka started truly recovering. It took her nearly an hour, but she was finally able to make that basket. Her brother had then started to wheel her back inside, but she started complaining. She wanted to make another basket. To do something again. Her brother simply looked down at her and said, "Maybe after some lunch first? You sound pretty hungry." At that point, Yuka's stomach let out a terrifying rumble, and the siblings had shared a laugh. This was the first laugh Yuka had had since the incident.

Remembering all of that, she turned around to see who had spoken the words. Where just a moment before had stood the character, Teito, her brother ,Saro, now stood. Had it not been for the words he had said and that horrible look on his face, she probably would've laughed at her brother. He looked ridiculous with that giant sword hanging off his back. However, she instead back handed her brother across the face.

Teito looked at her with a stunned expression on his face. "What the hell was that for!?" He exclaimed angrily. To that Yuka forcefully responded with, "Losing your ability to walk is way worse than this. At least we can do something to solve this. We will be fine. Do you hear me? We. Will. Be. Fine." Yuka didn't just say that to try and get her brother to calm down. She also did it to try and calm herself down, to prevent her from getting any closer to a full on panic.

After a moment, Teito smiled with tears still in his eyes, "Now that's the sister I know."

Yuka couldn't help but smile back as she began pulling Teito out of the courtyard. "Thanks, but let's get out of here. I want to find a place with a little more breathing room." That was the truth; more people in the crowd surrounding them were starting to grow angry, most of them were yelling or screaming, demanding to be released. Yuka was tempted to join, as if adding her voice would suddenly cause Kayaba to come back and listen to their pleas. But she resisted the urge, focusing instead on trying to get her brother out of this mess. She doubted any amount of yelling would bring Kayaba back. _After all, he has already killed 213 people. I doubt us yelling would cause him to stop what he is doing._ As much as Yuka wanted to deny those thoughts as they flashed through her head, she could not. The man was crazy, and he wasn't going to listen to a word these people had to say.

As Yuka began pushing her way through the crowd, she stopped after noticing a young girl on the ground bawling and screaming her head off. While she wasn't the only one doing this, she stood out for one reason.

Above her head was a name. Yuka didn't know much about the game's friend system but she knew that only people on your friends list had their names displayed like that. Floating above the helpless little girl was the name Silica in large text.

Yuka turned toward Teito. "Get out of the courtyard. I'll grab her and follow right behind you." Teito nodded and began making his way. He made surprisingly quick progress, most likely because he was knocking everyone out of the way as he constantly tripped on the oversized sword on his back. Yuka walked up and wordlessly grabbed Silica and continued pushing through the crowd closely behind Teito. Silica barely reacted, merely shuffling her feet as she continued to shake and cry uncontrollably.

The three finally made it out of the courtyard. They made their way over to the same bench where they had originally met only a few hours previously. _Has so little time really passed? It seems like it has been so much longer. _She sat Silica down on the bench and took several deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Silica was still crying, yet it now sounded pitiful and sad, all traces of anger gone.

Yuka sat herself down next to Silica and leaned back feeling exhausted. She was able to overlook her fear currently due to her mental exhaustion. Teito attempted to sit down next to her but failed to due to his sword, which he still had on his back for some reason. This time she couldn't help giggle as she watched her brother struggle to sit with sword on his back. After watching for a few seconds, she stopped giggling abruptly. _This is serious. I shouldn't be laughing. Having something unwieldy like that could get him kil—_

She stopped that though instantly and took another deep breath. _Don't think die. Don't think death. Can't afford to panic right now. _Yuka took a deep breath and spoke to her brother.

"Teito, unequip that stupid sword and sell it. Get yourself something that isn't bigger than you. I'll try and calm Silica down while you are gone." Teito half-grinned at his sister, but then quickly nodded seriously. He could see that Silica was in quite the state. "Yeah, sounds like a good idea. I'll meet you back here in a few."

With Teito opened his window and pressed a few buttons. A few moments later his gloves disappeared in a scattering of crystal light. "Wrong piece of equipment moron." Yuka commented immediately with a slight smile on her face. Teito shot her a look, then reequipped the gloves and finally dissolved the sword on his back.

With that he wandered off toward some of the near shops and Yuka faced Silica. She was still crying and Yuka tried talking to her. "Hey Silica, you ok?" Silica's mouth moved, although Yuka couldn't hear the words she muttered. She leaned in to listen carefully to what the young girl was saying, then quickly pulled back cringing.

Silica was muttering under her breath, barely audible in a calm monotone, a constant stream of mixed up thoughts, all though the words sent Yuka's mind reeling in panic as she thought of these things herself.

"I want to go home…I don't want to die…I want my mom and dad…I don't want to die…I want to go to school, see my friends…I don't want to die…I don't want to die."

For a moment, Yuka went into a panic. Her heart rate rose and she began to breathe shallower breaths. Then all at once she snapped her mind into focus. She put her hand on the sword at her side, and let one thought fill her mind as she did this one familiar, nostalgic action. _I must not panic. I must not panic. _With this she was able to stop the tears coming to her eyes and force back the scream that was rising in her throat. She turned back to Silica, who was still shaking and muttering. Yuka did the one thing that she thought she could do to help the girl.

She pulled Silica into a hug and started saying clearly so that Silica could hear, "Everything is going to be fine. You are going to make it home. You won't die. You won't die." After a few minutes of listening to this, Silica started picking up some of the same things Yuka was saying, adding the phrases to her string of incoherent muttering. She was like a child trying to add new words to its vocabulary, saying them and trying to figure out what they meant at the same time. After a few more minutes of this, Silica finally stopped muttering and looked up to look Yuka in the eyes. Her light brown eyes were full of tears, but she seemed much more stable now.

"Wh-who are you?" Silica wondered, her voice still sounding distant.

Yuka backed off from Silica a bit at this and answered in turn, trying to sound happy and casual. "It is Yuka silly. Can't you read the name tag?" Yuka said this while pointing to the spot above her head where she guessed her name tag should be visible.

Silica looked to where Yuka was pointing and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Yuka is that really you!? You look way different than before." Yuka was pleased to hear Silica's voice return to normal at that exclamation.

Yuka laughed briefly. "I could say the same thing to you. You are lucky the dress changed size to fit you otherwise it would probably be smothering you."

Silica blushed at that comment, and a slight smile appeared on her face. Yuka could tell it was smaller than it would've been under different circumstances, but the appearance of the smile was enough to tell her that Silica had been stabilized for the time being.

"Umm…thanks for helping me out. I appreciate it." Silica said this and began to stand up, looking around and stretching.

"Oh it was no problem." Yuka responded. And it was the truth. If Yuka had left Silica as she had been in the courtyard, guilt would've gnawed at her and she would probably have broken down. Having Silica with her also gave her something else do besides worry about her own fears. "Are you looking for anyone in particular?" Yuka asked as Silica continued to look around and stretch.

"No…I came by myself."

"Well in that case you can hang out with me and Teito. No point in you going off by yourself."

Silica turned to face Yuka with a thankful look in her eyes. "Thanks, that would be great. But where is Teito anyway?"

"Oh he had to get a new weapon. His sword didn't shrink like your dress did, and well, it wasn't going to work out." Yuka saw Teito approaching in the distance with a shortsword and shield on his back and pointed him out to Silica. "There he is now."

Silica gasped when she saw him approaching, astonished by the change in size he had undergone. "Is that really him?"

"Sure is. Not as impressive as he would have you believe, eh?" At this Silica laughed a little laugh. _Having Silica along might not be a bad idea at all. She helps keep me upbeat and distracted. And it will be good for her too. _

Yuka called out to Teito as he approached, "Hey, Silica has decided to hang out with us. Isn't that great?"

Teito continued approaching and responded with an unenthusiastic and empty sounding, "Yeah, that's great…" He blew past Silica and toward Yuka. He turned her around and pulled her close so he could speak without Silica overhearing. "We need to leave town. Now. It is not a good idea to stay here."

Yuka answered with a confused expression, "Huh? What do you mean? Why?"

"People are jumping."

"Jumping? What do you mean by…" Yuka's words dwindled off as she realized what he was saying. Judging by the direction he approached the bench from, Teito had gone near the edge of Aincrad, the floating castle that Sword Art Online existed in. _Oh God…Please tell me people aren't really… _She looked up into Teito's face and noticed the haunted look in his eyes. _He is too young to see something like that…Hell I don't want to see something like that. _Yuka nodded in understanding and patted Teito on the back.

"You're right, we should go to the next town Teito. There could be some cool stuff there and it gets us away from the rest of the people. Great idea!" Yuka said this loud after for Silica to hear, and she approached with a scared look on her face.

"Are you sure that is a good idea? I mean after all… this isn't exactly a game anymore. It is dangerous outside the city." Yuka understood what Silica meant, but she wasn't too concerned for their safety. Yuka knew that she would be more than a match for mobs in the plains surrounding the Starting City, and both Teito and Silica had gained a substantial amount of experience from their earlier trip outside the city. She was more concerned about keeping the three of them from panicking with the rest of the people in the city. She was surprised Teito had been able to keep calm after seeing what he had, although that was no doubt due to shock more than anything.

"Oh, we will be fine. We are all plenty skilled to get us through to the next city. After all this is still only the first floor, how hard could it be? C'mon, let's get going."

With that Yuka began leading the trio toward the city's exit, and toward the trials that awaited them in the future of their false reality.

**A/N: Thanks for reading this and thanks always for your support. Any comments or reviews are highly appreciated. And once more I say I will get another chapter out ASAP (in other words when I have time). Sorry for the long breaks but until I figure out how to schedule myself it will be this way. See you soon (hopefully)!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I appreciate the patience people show me as I release these. But I try. So here is the next chapter. Thanks again to my editor for catching my bad grammar and now sit back and enjoy.**

Teito forged ahead at the front of their three person party. He led somewhat confidently as they made their way through a wooded area. For some reason, Yuka and Silica, who had started talking almost immediately after they left the starting town, agreed that he should be the navigator as they found their way to the first town. As he closed the map, which was pocketed with blank unexplored areas, he sighed once more saying, "Looks like we should turn left in a few hundred meters or so." Teito announced to the two girls tailing him.

The conversation they had earlier had dwindled to a stop as their journey extended, but not before Silica had learned that Yuka and Teito were siblings. For some reason, Teito found it odd sharing that information with someone who was technically a total stranger, but he figured he would soon get over that feeling.

They nodded to him, both with different expressions on their faces. Yuka had a somewhat bittersweet look on her face looking at the surrounding area as they walked, most likely remembering the last time she had been able to go on a hike like this. Meanwhile, Silica had a look of pure exhaustion on her face.

_We need to get to the town soon. It's already been two hours. If we keep going on like this, it will only be a matter of time until we collapse from exhaustion. _Not only that, but Teito oddly found himself growing hungry. _I didn't know hunger could be portrayed this accurately in a game. _He was famished because he hadn't eaten since lunch…

Teito tried to shake off the thought that he had been in the real world just a few hours ago. However, the hunger gnawing at him wouldn't let him shake off the fear about what was happening to his body on the other side. _Is the hunger part of the game, or is it this bad there too? What will happen if I don't eat soon? How am I supposed to eat actual food? _With thoughts like that plaguing his mind, Teito was stopped by Yuka.

"Hey isn't this where we're supposed to turn?"

Teito stopped suddenly and realized she was right. He had gotten caught up in his own fears and shuddered. "Uh… yeah. Just making sure you girls were paying attention. You need to be on your toes in case we get jumped by mobs. After all, it wouldn't be fair for me to get all the experience today while you girls just watched." Teito finished this with a smile, and Silica just rolled her eyes. She knew that Yuka had carried them through the first several battles, while she and Teito had cowered in the back out of fear. It hadn't actually been until Yuka had taken her first direct hit from a mob that the other two had stepped up and started fighting as an actual party. However, Teito could tell that Yuka had seen through the empty joke. She could tell that he was still shaken.

"C'mon let's get going," Teito beckoned them over with a wave, and they began to move once again. However, after having moved no more than three steps, Teito was stopped by a yell from off to his right.

"Hey! Where do you think you are going?"

Teito stopped at the sound of the new voice and turned to face it. After a moment he saw some of the bushes ahead of them start rustling as two older players emerged from the brush. Well, by older, they both appeared to be around 14 or 15, still younger than Yuka.

"There is a dungeon over there you know," called the one on the right. He was the one who had spoken earlier, and his voice was full of confidence. He seemed to talk down to Teito, but it was not disrespectful, but simply arrogance. "You don't look ready to take on anything like that." Teito didn't mind the way the boy spoke, if only because the boy was currently helping them.

The boy stood taller than Teito, but not quite as tall as Yuka. He was bigger than Teito by quite a bit though. He was far from fat, but Teito had a feeling that the boy's size didn't appear to come from muscle. His brown hair fell down around his eyes, which were dark blue. He had a long spear in his right hand and an even larger round shield strapped to his left arm. He also wore heavy looking leather armor, dyed with white and blue accents.

Beside him stood a girl with brown hair similar to the boy, but hers went down to her waist. Unlike the boy, she had bright green eyes that seemed to glimmer in the sinking sunlight. On her hip was a longer one-handed sword with a skinnier blade than he had expected. Rather than armor she wore normal looking clothes, which included white pants and a short sleeved shirt blue shirt which revealed part of her stomach. The end of her sword disappeared into the white open jacket she wore over her rather skinny frame.

Yuka stepped out in front of the two adventurers and bowed her head. "Thank you for the warning. We would have been in trouble had we gotten stuck in there." It was easy to hear the honest sincerity in her voice.

The girl responded to this, "Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. We would've hated to see a group get lost in there. It isn't an easy dungeon if you aren't properly leveled. We were just out grinding on some of the mobs around here to try and get ready for the dungeon." She spoke with a clear voice, almost cheerfully.

"Wait, so you two want to try and clear this dungeon!?" Teito blurted out incredulously. "Why would you want to do that?"

At this the boy looked at him oddly. "We weren't planning on challenging it just yet. We are still only level two. I wouldn't want to go in there until at least level four. It isn't that challenging of a dungeon but it has some decent loot as well as a few quest items."

At that comment, Teito finally realized what these two people must be. "Oh, so you two are beta testers. But you know the game is dangerous right?" At this point Teito's voice started rising in pitch. "This isn't the beta anymore. You could actually die out here!" When he said this, Teito felt ashamed of himself as he saw Silica cringe behind them, and also at the shakiness in his own voice.

Again the odds looks from the pair continued. This time the girl answered. "So is the real world. Accidents happen all the time, and there are reports of homicide in the news all the time." At this she got serious. "It is harder to die in this game than you think it is, as long as you are prepared. Rushing into the dungeon right now would put the enemies we face about 2 levels above us on average. We could do it, but it would be quite challenging and very risky." With this she turned and faced the forest around them. "Around here though the mobs that spawn are all level one or two, and all of their abilities do little damage. This makes it safe for low leveled players."

Here the boy took over. "Whenever we died during the beta, it was always in an area where the mobs were about 2 – 3 levels higher than us, not counting the one time we died during a boss fight." He seemed pretty proud of this feat. "I'm assuming that since you guys have made it this far, you more or less understand sword skills and stuff right?"

Teito nodded, still trying to cope with the fact that these two didn't seem concerned in the slightest as they risked their lives.

The girl then responded. "Wow that is really cool! It took us several days to get the hang of things." Teito started to respond but then stopped as he noticed that the time was nearly 8:30. _It is going to be getting late soon… Maybe these guys will show us to the way to the first town. They seem pretty nice. _

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but it is getting late. Can you show us the way back to town?" Teito asked.

The guy spoke then, "Sure, but I want to wait a few more minutes here and see if anyone else shows up looking for the town. Like I said, the map makes it look like you have to go this way when really you don't. We can take you to the town in around 5 minutes. Our map data is very accurate and with a large group we should be safe from the majority of the mobs."

Teito realized then why these guys had come back this way. They hadn't come back trying to get loot or even to fight. They were just good honest people trying to keep other people out of trouble.

Yuka whistled appreciatively at that, obviously realizing the same thing. Silica was the only who actual spoke up to say anything about their bold and heroic actions.

"Oh thank you so much…um… Sorry I don't even know your names. But thanks anyway."

The two people smiled simultaneously and spoke at the exact same time.

"The name is Tochi."

"Hi there! My name is Sukai."

The two stopped and looked at each other, glaring, before they both broke out into a fit of giggling. After a moment, the girl, Sukai responded. "Yeah it's no big deal. Just trying to help people."

After that Yuka and Teito also thanked the pair and introduced themselves and Silica.

The group waited for another five minutes or so as the sun went down, waiting to see if anyone else would wander into the dungeon. Yuka and Sukai were sharing idle conversation while the other three more or less sat and watched the sun go down. Teito found it nearly impossible to believe that it wasn't real. It looked so much like the sunset had in the real world, but yet he knew it wasn't. The temperature didn't drop like it normally would in the real world. Rather, it made a sudden drop of around seven or eight degrees about five minutes before the sun went down. He sighed, knowing he would be stuck in this place for quite a while.

After the sun went down, Tochi stood up and stretched. He then opened up his inventory and pressed a few tabs, causing a lantern to appear in his hands. Teito followed his lead and one materialized into his hand a moment later. The group then gathered around and Tochi handed his lantern to Silica.

"Teito, you'll be just in front of me." He said it smoothly, obviously knowing how to set up a party for nighttime exploration. The group then took off with Sukai at the lead with Teito and Silica holding lanterns with Tochi in the middle of them reading the map data. Yuka was at the tail end.

Teito could see the tactical advantages this offered as the group made their way to the village. The person reading the map data, who also happened to be the one paying the least attention to their surroundings was in the middle, where they would be safest in case of an attack. The people with lanterns were the next ones in, providing light for the people on the outside so they could see and be wary of attackers, while having the ability to protect the light bearers for a few seconds while they set down their lights to draw their weapons.

Fortunately, this strategy wasn't needed as they made their way to the village. The one time they ran into a mob was when one attempted to come up behind the group, but Yuka was able to finish swiftly with two cut off sword skills. Tochi and Sukai both nodded at her, impressed and in wonder at her refusal to use sword skills. They would've asked more, but Silica was tired and managed to persuade them to save their questions for later.

After about a half hour of walking, the group made it to the village. It was a small place, with only a handful of homes, as well as an inn and a small weapons shop. All the buildings were log cabin styled, and the inn was the only two-storied building there. A small well was located outside the weapons shop.

There were only two players in the village. All of the NPCs would be inside their homes and respective shops at this time. Two players were on the porch of the inn, discussing something that Teito couldn't here.

"Welcome to the village. Not much here, but at least it has a weapons shop." Tochi stated as they walked up to the inn. "Fortunately that means that the food and rent here is cheap. Let's grab a bite to eat!"

His room was so cold compared to the rest of the inn, where he had been able to talk to with the others as they had eaten. Once they were done eating, Silica had quickly excused herself from the table with an exhausted look on her face. Teito had felt as bad as she looked, but decided to stay and talk with the others.

Sukai and Tochi first asked about Yuka's odd technique of canceling her sword skill, and they seemed to think it was weird, but if it worked for her then it wasn't a big deal. Yuka had avoided mentioning her previously ruined legs from the pair, but she did reveal that they were siblings, as well as explaining how Silica had ended up with us.

Teito had learned that the two of them were actually twins. At first he was surprised, but then thought it made sense after thinking about it for a few minutes. Tochi had gotten into the beta, and when Sukai didn't get a copy of the beta, they sent a letter to the people at Argus. To their surprise, they got a reply from Kayaba Akihiko himself, as well as an additional copy of the game. This was part of the reason they felt so calm about the situation. They knew that Kayaba wasn't completely unreasonable, that he was still a human. The letter they had gotten had said something about a dream to create a world that was both fun and challenging, but not impossible, and that the beta testers would help him adjust the difficulty of the game. So they knew that if nothing else, Kayaba had made this game possible to beat.

Well this may have been comforting knowledge, it didn't change the facts as Teito now lay on his bed. He was in a world where people died, and fear echoed through him. In the darkness, he could swear he saw them, their souls forever trapped in the game. Or rather, he saw only one, looking at him with a crazy, out-of-focus look. The same he saw as the man fell back off the first floor balcony. He couldn't close his eyes out of fear that the man would reach out and grab him, telling him that being here was futile, that they just had to jump and escape.

Teito kept rolling over, but he needed to escape that gaze, the grasp of that falling man. He practically ran out of his room and down the stairs to the fireplace. He was surprised that he wasn't the only one down there. Several players were down by the innkeeper getting some food. _More beta testers must be arriving. _He sat down by the fire, relishing in the light it created.

Despite the three or four players eating at the surrounding tables, the inn seemed empty. The other players eyed each other, as if they making sure that none of the others had left while they weren't watching. As Teito sat, a player walked in. The player only stood out in the fact that he could see the player's nametag hanging above his head when he looked at him, indicating that they had in fact met before.

The player had the name Kirito hovering over his head.

His appearance hadn't changed nearly as drastically as he would have thought. He still had the same blue armor that he had seen him in before, although the boy's hair was longer and slightly wilder looking than it had been before. His onyx eyes also stood out with his black hair. He just overall appeared slightly less regal than before.

Kirito walked around with an odd look in his eye. He seemed tired and fatigued, as if he'd just run a marathon. Klein was no longer with him. When the boy saw Teito sitting by the fireplace, he looked away at first, and Teito gave him a smile in an attempt to seem approachable. Kirito ordered some food and then went over to Teito, although he did so hesitantly.

Kirito engaged the conversation. "What are you doing out here already? I would have thought that a new player like you would have stayed in the Starting Town for a little while trying to figure out the best way to organize yourself before setting out." He spoke slowly, as if he wasn't used to talking to people in a one-on-one environment. Teito couldn't decide what to say to that. He knew the reason. They had come to this town running. He had been running from the screams in the Starting Town. He had been running from that man, who sent himself falling to who knows where, only to end up in the shadows of Teito's bedroom. However, he couldn't tell Kirito that.

"I want to get out of here ASAP. Figured we might as well get started by moving forward across the first floor." Once again, Teito noticed that Klein was not with Kirito. "Where is Klein?" Teito regretted asking the question as soon as he saw the look on Kirito's face. He looked ashamed and pained, only making him look even more tired that he had previously. "He's not…dead is he?" Teito expanded carefully.

Kirito rapidly shook his head, indicating that Klein was most certainly not dead. "No, he just stayed in the Starting City to help some of his friends who didn't even know how to perform Sword Skills. I decided to keep moving in order to get some levels for safety."

Teito was confused for a second, then nodded his head in understanding. SAO, despite the fact that people could die in it, was still essentially just a game. If you were a higher level than a mod you were facing then, statistically, you were more likely to win due to the fact that you had higher stats and better abilities. The boys then sat in silence, staring into the fire and pondering their fate.

After a minute or so, Kirito's food came and he ate it at a rapid pace. His plate was cleared after only about two minutes. The moment the food was finished, the plate broke apart into little shards, indicating that the durability of Kirito's food had reached zero. He then stood back up and made his way for the door. Teito jumped up and grabbed Kirito by the shoulder to stop him.

"Where are you going?" Teito asked, startled at his concern for this kid he barely knew. He could tell that Kirito was exhausted, but yet he could clearly see the boy's intent to leap back outside.

To this question, Kirito replied in a cool, even tone. "There is a quest in the house around the corner that gets you a decent dagger. I wouldn't use it for fighting, but it sells for a pretty good price. Definitely a worthwhile quest. "Now Kirito turned to face Teito, who promptly released him as he saw the panicked look in Kirito's eyes. "It's not like I can sleep if I wanted too. I need to keep moving, getting stronger." With that he kept moving toward the door.

"At least take me with you then." Teito called to him as Kirito arrived at the door. He wasn't sure made him say it, if it was his want to keep this guy from getting himself killed or perhaps the simple logic of his statement. If he wouldn't be able to sleep, he may as well go and try to level up. However, Kirito didn't even turn to face him as he stood in the doorway and spoke to Teito.  
"You aren't like me. You didn't come here by yourself. Don't abandon the ones you came here with just to try and help someone like me." With that Kirito dashed off into the night, but Teito thought he saw a brief tear falling through the air as Kirito ran off.

Teito sat back down. Kirito was right. He had to be there for his sister and Silica. He couldn't just run out on them. They would panic, wondering what on earth had happened to him. His sister would probably try and literally kill him once she found him. Teito smiled bitterly at the silly thought, knowing thoughts like that wouldn't help him sleep at night.

**A/N: Thanks again for reading this and I appreciate any reviews people leave. This is alot of fun to do and I will keep this up though as long as people like it. See ya next time!**


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